Couple pleads guilty to regularly abusing their baby, who died after being smothered

SINGAPORE, 12 OCTOBER 2026 —

A 23‑year‑old mother and her 27‑year‑old husband pleaded guilty on Monday, 12 October, to a series of charges for the death of their eight‑month‑old son, Trevor Neo Yu Hin, who died on 2 September 2024 after being smothered and struck by his parents.

The prosecution’s case was built on a chronology of abuse that began when Trevor was just over a month old. The parents, Chloe Gan Ci Xuan and Neo Jia Ming, had married in August 2023, after Gan became pregnant in April 2023. Trevor was born on 9 December 2023. After the birth, Gan returned to her parents’ home and was assisted by a confinement nanny.

When the confinement period ended in January 2024, she brought Trevor back to live with her husband in a flat that also housed Neo’s uncles. From February 2024 the couple hired a nanny to care for Trevor during weekdays, while other relatives looked after him on weekends.

According to court documents, the abuse began shortly after the couple moved back together. Gan admitted that she had learned how to make Trevor stop crying by shaking him vigorously, a technique she had seen her husband use. “I could make him stop crying or faint by shaking him,” she told the court. The couple shook Trevor frequently to stop his cries.

In January 2024, Trevor was hospitalised at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) for about a week after Gan shook him and he lost consciousness. No injuries were found on him at that time.

The prosecution’s evidence shows that for about seven months Trevor was assaulted and bruised by his parents. Neither parent intervened when they saw the other abusing the infant. Text messages exchanged between the couple after Gan shook Trevor when he was about 41 days old are part of the evidence.

In the messages, Neo warned her not to be “very violent” in shaking the baby, saying it might “damage the brain” or that the boy might “become autistic.” Gan replied that she had nearly shaken him “(almost) 180 degrees,” and Neo responded with a smiley face: “Later stupid stupid only ma.” Gan later told Neo that Trevor did not drink any milk because she had shaken him until he was drained.

Neo asked her to “just monitor” and to use her own method instead of his.

Before 18 February 2024, Neo covered Trevor’s nose and mouth with his hands for about a minute until the baby began vomiting milk and turning purple. Fearing that the infant was going to die, Neo told his wife that he did not want to take care of Trevor anymore, because he was afraid he would kill him.

He also told Gan to tell others that the bruises on Trevor’s face were from Neo’s phone falling on it by accident, and not from his forceful slaps. Neo also pinched his son’s fingers forcefully 20 to 30 times about two to three times a month, because he found the baby’s reaction funny. Gan was present each time and did nothing to stop him.

Around April 2024, when Trevor was about five months old, Neo began covering his son’s nose and mouth whenever he cried. Trevor would then lose consciousness and stop crying. Neo knew that he was smothering the baby, but claimed that this was the only way to put him to sleep.

He did this regularly, and Gan began following suit, using a blanket and her hands when the baby became strong enough to pull the blanket away.

On 2 April 2024, Neo was taking Trevor to the nanny’s house when the infant began crying. To stop him, Neo put his hand into his son’s mouth and dug around, causing bleeding under his tongue. The nanny later saw the bleeding and insisted that a doctor see the child. The couple took Trevor to KKH on that day, where a doctor noted local trauma under the child’s tongue, with redness.

The couple left the hospital with the child, and Neo told Gan what he had done.

In May 2024, Gan’s mother noticed bruises on the child and warned her daughter to stop hitting the infant. Around early August 2024, Neo told his wife not to hit the infant at all until after a doctor’s appointment, or the doctor would see the bruises and accuse them of abuse.

On 1 September 2024, the couple returned home after going out for dinner while Neo’s uncles looked after Trevor. The couple were using their mobile phones in their room while Trevor was in his cot. When Trevor cried, Gan felt frustrated because she could not sleep. She pressed a blanket over her son’s face for close to a minute. The boy struggled before slowing down, but started crying again when her hand was lifted.

Gan repeated her actions until she felt her arm trembling. As she was repeatedly smothering her baby, her husband looked at her and asked her: “How? You want the baby to die?” He told her that if anything happened, they would go to jail.

She responded: “Wait for the baby to make noise first, then you try again.” After Trevor started crying again, Gan placed the blanket over his face and pressed down hard with her hands. She pressed with such considerable force that she felt the strength leaving her arms. Gan then flipped him over so he lay face down. He stopped crying, and she went to sleep.

At about 11.30 pm on 1 September 2024, Neo finished playing a mobile phone game and went to check on his son. He realised that the infant was not breathing and his hands were cold. He woke his wife up and asked her to check on Trevor while he went to the toilet. Gan realised that Trevor was unresponsive and his lips were purple.

The couple attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the child but to no avail. Neo then told Gan to call a taxi instead of an ambulance. He did not want to incur the costs of getting an ambulance, since it was obvious to him that their son was dead. On the way to KKH, Neo told his wife to keep quiet and not say anything.

He said that if nothing happened and the police did not get involved, they could continue living their lives and not worry about money anymore. Trevor was pronounced dead at about 12.20 am on 2 September 2024, at KKH. Police officers arrested his parents that same morning.

The prosecution charged the parents with causing or allowing the death of a child, ill‑treatment of a child and permitting the ill‑treatment of a child. Both pleaded guilty on Monday, 12 October. They appeared in court in prison clothes, gaunt and sitting at opposite ends of the dock without speaking to each other. Gan started weeping when the prosecutor began talking about what she had done to her child. Neo remained expressionless.

The case has prompted a national conversation about child protection and the responsibilities of parents. It also raises questions about the adequacy of support for new parents, especially those who are first‑time parents and may lack experience in caring for infants. The court’s decision to accept the guilty pleas means that the parents will face sentencing, which will be announced at a later date.

The case is expected to influence future child‑protection policies and the way authorities monitor and intervene in suspected abuse situations.

Related: High Court · Singapore